Heel for footwear



No. 6ll.035. Patented Sept. 20, !898. J. GRIFFIN.

mam. ron FOOTWEAR.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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HEEL FOR FOOTWEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,035, dated September 20, 1898.

Application filed October 30,1897. Serial No. 656,888. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES GRIFFIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leominster, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heels for Footwear, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The heels of boots and shoes and thelike articles of footwear as at present constructed or formed are rounded or convex in the rear portion thereof. Although this form of heel is in general use there are various practical disadvantages incident thereto. As will be obvious the convex or rounded shape reduces or narrows the extreme rear portion of the heel and gives a more or less pointed form thereto. The rear extremity of the heel of a boot or shoe is the portion thereof which in the case of most wearers in use contacts first with the ground or other surface on which the wearer of the boot or shoe to which such heel is attached may be walking. This portion of the heel in consequence of receiving the initial impact against the ground or surface not only is subject to considerable wear, but for an instant of time in each step of the wearer of the shoe serves as the support of the latter. Its shape promotes wear, there being but a small extent of material over which the wear may be distributed, and the result in this respect is that this portion of the heel soon wears or cuts away in use and assumes a rounded appearance, the worn place extending up the rear side of the shoe. Moreover, on account of its rounded form and narrowness it fails to afford an adequate support to the weight of the wearer of the shoe, and consequently there is a tendency to permit the foot of the wearer to twist or turn to one side or the other, which is not only inconvenient and annoying, but

panying drawings, in which latter I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention.

Figure l of the drawings shows a bottom view of a shoe having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of aheel of ordinary form.

Having reference first to Fig. 2, an ordinary heel in its entirety is designated 1, while the rounded rear portion or extremity thereof is designated 2. As indicated above, most persons in walking bring their feet down in contact with the pavement or other surface over which they may be passing so that the extreme rear edge of the heel strikes first. In consequence of the impact this edge wears away with comparative rapidity,and the wearing away is expedited or facilitated by the rounded shape. It is customary to reinforce the heel by driving nails or the like into the portions of the same which are most exposed to Wear.

In Fig. 2 I have indicated at 3 the line of nails which ordinarily are employed around the outer edge of a heel. These nails retard the wear, but it will be perceived that as an incident of the curvature of the line in which they are placed at the rear of the heel they are not acted upon uniformly and are not all of them equally serviceable at the outset in resisting wear. The wear usually begins at some particular point on the curved rear portion of the boot or shoe and progresses thence, so that the nails successively are worn away. Furthermore, from what has been said above it will be obvious on inspection of Fig. 2 that when a person in walking first brings his foot down onto the ground and while his Weight is resting more or less completely on the curved portion of his heel he is receiving support from so narrow a base that any slight carelessness or inadvertence or small accidental happening may occasion a twisting or turning of his foot with disagreeable or serious'results, the rounded form of the rear edge of the heel adding to the'instability of his support.

I obviate by the construction of heel which is illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings the disadvantages which are incident to the ordinary heel with its rounded rear portion or apex, as just described with reference to Fig. 2. In

accordance with my invention I square off the rear part of the heel, as along the line 5, thereby giving to that portion of the rear edge of the heel which first comes in contact with the ground a straight bearing of considerable length. This straight hearing may extend at right angles to the length of the heel and across the extreme rear portion of the heel, or it may be located ata slight inclination with respect to the length of the heel and a trifle to one side of a middle position.

I have illustrated in Fig. l the straight hearing as disposed symmetrically with reference to the other portions of the heel and at right angles to the length of the heel; but it will be apparent that the invention is not confined to this arrangement, and other dispositions of the straight bearing will be obvious. Vith my invention applied thereto the heel no longer has a rounded and approximately pointed rear portion to wear away rapidly, as in the case of the ordinary heel. Instead the wearis distributed along all portions of the straight bearing, so that its effects are less apparent and the heel remains longer in satisfactory and presentable condition. The length of the square bearing gives more adequate support and stability, so that there is no tendency to the lateral turning or twisting to which reference has been made. Furthermore, when a line of nails is introduced into the heel parallel with the straight edge at the rear thereof, as at 6, Fig. 1, all of the nails in such line take the wear equally from the very beginning, in consequence of which the wear of such nails, as well as of the material of the heel, is greatly retarded, and a much longer period of use elapses before the heel loses its presentable appearance.

In the case of the ordinary heel with its rounded rear edge it happens sometimes that the wear of such edge takes place in such manner at one side of the middle line of the heel that in use the shoe to which such heel is affixed tends to assume a laterally-canted position when the weight of the wearer is imposed upon the heel. This results in a Wrenching of the counter-stiffener and a twisting and displacement of the same and the remaining upper parts of the shoe with relation to the heel, rendering the shoe unsightly, as well as uncomfortable to the wearer.

I claim as my invention- The improved heel for boots, shoes, and other articles of footwear, having at the rear edge thereof a straight transversely-disposed line of bearing, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES GRIFFIN.

Witnesses:

CHAS. F. RANDALL, LEP'I'N'E HALL RICE 

